Why do little kids like McDonald's so much. In most cases, adults, or teenagers just past the age of 12, dislike the food. Do they have brain-altering chemicals in the Happy Meals to keep kids coming for me? Maybe its some sick way to get them to smoke. Stuff nicotine in the meat and feed it to kids so they get addicted, and then when they grow up if they try a smoke they are already used to the nicotine and get addicted. Or am I just a paranoid freak? You can answer that last question if you want.
Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
Because they want the toy in the Happy Meal.
-pH
Posted by AvidReader (Member # 6007) on :
It's all about the playground.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Ahem. Confession. I am a forty-one year old woman who is still a McDonald's lover, and I even WORKED there. I think kids like it because they can count on it to be the same every time. Same smell, same taste, no matter where or when.
Posted by SteveRogers (Member # 7130) on :
But its so creepy. Everytime I ask my nephew where he wants to go for lunch this look of absolute evil consumes him and he begans to laugh and say McDonald's...........everytime im surprised that the fires of hell dont consume us.....seeing as his laugh and look reminds me so much of Satan
Posted by raventh1 (Member # 3750) on :
The McDonalds down the street here is open 24/7 (Drive Thru). It's an alternative to other stores that are open late at night. You see I work nights. I didn't get to go toMcDonalds as a kid, maybe once in a long while we would go to Burger King, when they had $1 whoppers.
Now though, I don't like to eat it every day, but maybe when I'm feeling lazy, and don't want to cook anything, I'll go.
I don't smoke. And I'm not addicted to thier burgers. (I can say this because I have gone maybe a year without McDonalds.)
Posted by Space Opera (Member # 6504) on :
Yep, it's the toys. When McDonald's is carrying a particularly good set of them my kiddos beg like mad to go there. I hate it. But I love them, so we still go. Plus, even though there's no way in heck either one of them will eat 97 percent of my cooking, they eat all of the food in their Happy Meals.
space opera
Posted by SteveRogers (Member # 7130) on :
Congrats Rav!! I can easily say that I haven't eaten at McDonald's in 4 years......oh wait no i cant......i just took my nephew there last week.......curses......oh yeah and maybe they want to go there to see if they can meet that Ronald McDonald guy
[ December 22, 2004, 04:56 PM: Message edited by: SteveRogers ]
Posted by Tater (Member # 7035) on :
Well, it does have a clown...
Posted by Joldo (Member # 6991) on :
I've gone to McDonald's more in the past year than the rest of my life. And I've gone maybe seven times this year.
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
It's the toys, yes, but it's also the recognition factor.
My 2 year old can spot a McDonalds blindfolded with Vick's vaporrub smeared under her nose. (Before you call CPS on me, I have never tried this as an experiment.) It's a 6th sense, I swear, and it's unerringly correct every time. "Mommy, McDonalds! McDonalds!" We don't even go there that often, and she doesn't eat the food, but loves the toy.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
jeniwren, my father tells me that I was the same way when I was two. o_O They even took to spelling mcdonald's with me around, but to no avail.
Posted by MEC (Member # 2968) on :
The only good thing about McDonalds are the breakfast platters and the Monopoly game.
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
*laughs* mac....I believe that.
My daughter can't spell McD's yet, but she does know what N-A-P means. Posted by dread pirate romany (Member # 6869) on :
My kids have never been. They have never asked to either.
Posted by Alucard... (Member # 4924) on :
quote: My kids have never been. They have never asked to either.
Whoa man, that just freaked me out. Big time.
And for the record, I hate the breakfast. McDonalds is just iconic. Oh, and there is one on every corner.
I sadly remember eating all those cheeseburgers so my wife could collect Teeny Beanie Babies. I think I like it, if I remember correctly.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
I disagree that it its the toys. I grew up on mcDonalds, and there were no toys "in our day."
Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
eck, McD's is baaaaad.
I miss the A&W's. They are still around, but not as much as they used to be.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
A & W is great! There are some in upsate New York and Vermont. I also saw one connected to KFC here in Massachusetts, but did not trust it.
Posted by raventh1 (Member # 3750) on :
Actually all of the KFC's here have A&W. We didn't have any stand alone A&W's that I know of.
Posted by raventh1 (Member # 3750) on :
Not to mention this is the birthplace of KFC... I work across the street from where the 1st KFC was built (They recently rebuilt it -- stupid if you ask me.)
Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
I know of one (A&W) in an airport that I was at (I can't remember which one though). We do have one on the base over here. No McDonalds. The base in Norfolk has a McDonalds. We just have a KFC and A&W. They are in seperate buildings, though both have a laundry facility attached to the same building each is in. If one goes into the NEX we have a Rubio's, a Subway, a Pizza Hut(I think it's a Pizza Hut. I don't eat Pizza), and a chinese food joint in the food court.
[ December 22, 2004, 09:32 PM: Message edited by: Stan the man ]
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
I hate McDs. Can't eat their food anymore. It is putrid. Kids don't have suffisticated taste buds. I used to eat florescent coloured candy. Can't stand to even look at the stuff now. I used to hate homemade macaroni, now I love it. Same with mash potatoes. I also liked oatmeal, but it's slimy now, so I despise it.
Posted by Verily the Younger (Member # 6705) on :
I like McDonalds. I know that makes me some kind of freak, but you know what? I don't care. I don't find their food to be all that bad. Of course it isn't gourmet, but then, that's not why you go to a fast food place. No fast food place has wonderful food. But as fast food goes, I think McDonalds is up there among the top. I don't eat it very often, but every now and then I'll just feel like having some, and I refuse to feel guilty about it.
And yes, A&W is better. Lucky for me, we have those here. We have way too many KFCs (I hate KFC--by which I mean that I dislike the actual flavor of their food), but we also have a few A&W places.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
Why? Because advertising works.
Posted by joe.foss (Member # 7157) on :
STAN!!! you Hate pizza?!?! What's your problem, pizza is the best food in the world....sadly it can be addicting at times, if you know what I mean.
A life without pizza is a life without(i can't think of one right now)
Dans right, advertising works, but is McD's advertising to kids the toy? Or the fun the kid can have playing with the bennie baby(etc.) with his FRIends and FAMily?
[ December 22, 2004, 11:58 PM: Message edited by: joe.foss ]
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
I don't mind eating at mcdonald's occasionally.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
Most kids like bland food. At McDonalds, there's no worries about encountering Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, arugula, zucchini casseroles, quinoa, tamari, nutritional yeast, etc.
Posted by kaioshin00 (Member # 3740) on :
Their commercials are of so much appeal.
Posted by Rappin' Ronnie Reagan (Member # 5626) on :
Kids have more taste buds than adults, so foods taste stronger to them.
Posted by Mrs.M (Member # 2943) on :
My mother never took me to any fast food restaurants, nor did she allow anyone else to take me. I never felt like I was missing anything and to this day, I cannot stand the taste of fast food.
I will never, ever take my children to McDonald's or any other fast food restaurant and I won't allow anyone else to either. One issue that I'm passionate about is the scary rise in childhood obesity. I want my children to be healthy and there's almost nothing unhealthier than fast food.
Fast food companies market aggressively to children. Why? Because children always bring at least one other customer when they visit a fast food place. They give out "limited addition" toys, "collectible" toys, "educational" toys to entice the children to keep coming back. Overworked parents get guilted into buying the toys.
Two of the best books about fast food and marketing to kids are: Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser and Consuming Kids: The Hostile Takeover of Childhood by Susan Linn.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
We have McDonalds here, and Pizza Hut, Dominoes, and KFC. That's it for North American chains.
I've been to the McDonalds here, but mostly when my 4 year old nephew was here (with his parents and sissy, of course!) and he had to play in that play pit thingy.
The good thing about McDonalds here is that they don't have just the regular ketchup - they also have chili garlic ketchup. Yum! Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
I read an article about McDonald's going all over the world, and especially the affects it was having in Asia. One of the big things was unequivocal: familiarity. The food is always the same (generally, allowing for localized tastes and necessities such as no beef in Indian restaurants) and it's always familiar.
After reading this article I realized how I miss McD's food. It's not terribly good, but it has memories, just like any other fast food. Like the day we were playing mock trial at the neighbors and broke for lunch. I got a cheeseburger and strawberry milkshake and played with a Snow White re-release toy and when I went back, the jury had made their decision without me. You can't pay for memories like that, and whenever I eat at McDonald's, I remember.
So yeah, that's probably why. And with kids it's definitely the toys.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
Here, you can get McRice instead of fries with your meals. And you can get Chicken Biryani and Tandoori Chicken.
But you can also get a Big Mac which is . . . a Big Mac. No difference. Fries are the same. Everything else is the same. Oh, except the menu - not as many items on the menu here as in the McDs I've gone to in North America.
Posted by Ralphie (Member # 1565) on :
The Onion ran a very in-depth and interesting article about how scientific studies reveal that babies are stupid.
So, you know. There could be something to that. Maybe kids haven't grown out of the stupid phase yet.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Ralphie, I go with Wordsworth, who said we are born brilliant and godly, and get stupider every day. Remember, it is the parents who drive the kids there.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
What I liked about McDonalds, Wendy's and Burger King (and we at at none frequently) wasn't the toys in the happy meal. It was the boxes or bag the meal came in. McDonalds especially used to have all kinds of cool punchouts and things and the box could then become a fantasy play stage. I of course, good little budding engineer that I was, liked "building" the box into what it was supposed to be better than actually playing with it though.
AJ
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
I like fast food. I also think eating a fast food chain is generally less fattening than eating at a sit-down restaurant. (If you want to be healthy, cook and eat at home, of course. But I'm not up to cooking every single day.) We don't get fast food very often, though, because Cor does not like the taste of it.
When we get fast food, I don't always get the girls a happy meal, and they still like it. They too learned to recognize all of the logos at an early age--even logos of restaurants we never go to. (While I like McDonald's, I can't stand Burger King.) It ain't advertising, though, because the girls almost never watch TV. Posted by Ralphie (Member # 1565) on :
quote:Ralphie, I go with Wordsworth, who said we are born brilliant and godly, and get stupider every day. Remember, it is the parents who drive the kids there.
Even the strongest of mind and spirit can break under the unholy strain of incessant whining.
Posted by dread pirate romany (Member # 6869) on :
I contend that if you never take your kids for fast food, and if you feed them spicy foods of the world from the get go (babies love pesto and hummus), they just won't develop a taste for fast food. At a party we were at someone brought Chicken McNuggets, and all three of my kids took one bite and tossed them.
Posted by Trisha the Severe Hottie (Member # 6000) on :
We go to McDonald's sometimes. Anything I don't have to cook is a treat. Except there is some spinach dip I've had at a couple of parties this year, it has artichokes or something in it that doesn't work. Maybe they are selling it at Costco. Don't get that, anyone.
I like cooking, it just starts to wear me out now and then. Also, my husband doesn't let us eat hamburgers at home so it's a small act of rebellion. That always helps. But I'd just as soon go to another franchise if they have a playground. Not very many do.
Posted by littlemissattitude (Member # 4514) on :
I guess the kids probably like the toys in the Happy Meals.
Personally, while I don't like most of their other food, every once in a while a plain McDonald's hamburger is just the thing. Not a cheeseburger. Not a Big Mac. Just a hamburger. Not too much, not too little, and you can still get one for less than a buck in most places.
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What's your problem, pizza is the best food in the world....sadly it can be addicting at times, if you know what I mean.![[Frown]](frown.gif)
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